Easter Celebrations

Perfume

Gigi made her debut from nap time slumber with a ready grin and a surprising odor.  Walking towards Camelia and I was a fragrant child drenched in perfume with a headband atop her head and a camera in her hand.  My little Missy requested I shoot a video of her since she was in high spirits and "so pretty."  Cute little stinker was quickly distracted and failed to perform for my attempts at filming, but the aroma of her presence continues to linger downstairs long after bedtime, causing me to relive the moment in my memory, if not by recording.

Our 6 Month Nephalim

Ellie is, without a doubt, the largest of our babies.  She went in for her six month check-up a couple days ago, and honestly, whilst Camelia was a big girl, Eliana has her beat!  E's measurements at the doctor were all unmistakeably off the chart... literally.  At 20 pounds, 28 inches tall, with a 18.5 inch head, and a smile that pushes her cheeks nearly off her face, our sweet girl brought out a chuckle from the doctor. Ellie is comfortable in 12 month clothing, is starting to enjoy a more varied diet, and loves her family beautifully!  We are so blessed with this gentle treasure.

Ellie is doing a great job sleeping at night after a couple days of sleep training.  She is only up once through the night for a feeding.  During the day she is just now starting to sample foods and we have learned the secret to feeding this munchkin is to feed her from a cup.  If food is offered in a spoon, it becomes much less appealing.  This odd particularity just adds to her charm.

She is just learning to roll over from her back and showing some progress in both sitting up and standing. though both are not her forte.

We love this pudgy dear!

Poppyseed Chicken

Great recipe from Hilary!  Byron remembers this one from years ago it was so good!


Poppyseed Chicken

4 chicken breasts
8oz sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 1/2T poppy seeds
Ritz crackers
3T butter, melted

Boil and dice chicken (or use a rotisserie chicken and shred). Mix chicken, sour cream, soup and poppy seed. Crush ritz crackers and sprinkle over top. Cook at 325 degrees for 40 min until lightly browned and bubbly!

I usually serve it with veggies and rolls or something like that!! Super easy!!

Gilana and her Baby... AKA Camelia

Scene: Camelia is lying down in the pack and play whilst Gigi sings to and attends to her needs.

Gilana starts:  Ok baby, you need to eat all your breakfast.
C: Waaa Waaaa!  Um.  Ok.
G: When you are all done, you get to have a big ice cream cone.
C: OK!!!
G: Good girl, now sleep my sweet little Bubbies.
C: [Snoring]
G: Good job, now it's day time.  Go play and chew on your chew toys.

~~Giggles and sounds of delight commence.~~

Haircuts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Gigi and I both got cuts, too!  I chopped off about a foot, and Gilana lost her baby hair from the ends... it is so much easier to manage now! 

 

Gigi's Nocturnal Activity

The last couple nights of nursing Ellie have left me with the giggles.  While sitting in the girl's room caring for Eliana, I have the perfect vantage point over Gigi.  She talks, stands up, throws herself, etc in the room while asleep.  

Two nights ago all was still when suddenly she bolted to her feet on her bed, spun herself in frenetic circles, hit the wall, then fell in a ball apparently fast asleep once more on her bed.  There was no more movement from her for the rest of my visit as I watched her very bemused.  

The following night I watched as Gigi suddenly repositioned herself across the width of the bed, leaving her head dangling over the edge.  She would hold her head completely erect, then go to lay it down on the non-existent support beneath her head. Finding no such respite, she would once again bring her head erect in the air once more. She literally did this process about ten times before stretching out an arm to feel the ground below and finally repositioned her body so her head could rest safely on her pillow.

The Tree

We had a gorgeous plum tree in our backyard which beautifully shaded it in the summer and was the home to our little hummingbird family for the past several years.  We hired a crew to clean up our yard and plant new grass, prune the trees back and generally make it beautiful.  As with every person we have hired on for one job or another in a home related project, I find myself severely disappointed.  Our tree has been hacked.  To bits.  And pieces.  I know it is just a tree.  Byron reminds me it will fill out.  But I am devastated.  I am fighting tears every time I walk outside and trying hard to come to terms with the fact that the crowning glory of our yard has been brutalized. 

I am hoping this post will remind me in several years (once our tree does fill back in again) not to take things to seriously, but also to lay out seriously descriptive expectations for the work we hire others to do.  Let this be a warning, do not believe others have the same understanding of "job well done" as you do.  In our gardeners defense, he honestly thought he was doing as we asked and was apologetic.  It would have been much less work for him to give it the more minor trim we had in mind. 

So often I wish I could push the rewind button on life, but since I can't, perhaps I can just request that God would allow me an even lovelier tree in my yard in heaven.  :)

Blog has been hacked

By a two year old.  I had several posts that I had been working on and had quite a few updates written.  Apparently Camelia got to the computer and must have deleted them somehow.  Bummer.

In other news, Camelia is into everything!

:)

Gorgeous Ellie at 5 and a Half Months

Too. Cute. For. Words.

5 Months: Cute li'l Elsie-Bops!

Our little lass turned Five Months old right before Valentines, and I am continually amazed at how old she is already.  She celebrated this new monthly landmark by learning to grab and munch on her chunky toes and roll over!  Ellie continues to be a sweetheart, and has a special affection for Gigi, reacting to her entreaties for smiles with broad grins and a cheery gurgling laugh.  She desires to be a part of everything and is quite good at moving toys around to munch on. When she is unhappy, which, truth be told, happens fairly regularly, she informs the neighborhood with her screech-monkey interpretation!

We do not anticipate Eliana being an early walker, she has no desire to stand, whereas Gilana at this point could stand on her own.  WOW.  Ellie simply desires to be included, wants to be with her sisters, and wants to be waited on hand and foot. :)

We are attempting to put her on a consistent nap schedule, but it is challenging with older sisters in the mix.  Each girl has her own preference for nap time routine and whatnot, but the challenge in it is each seems to want my attention to the full at once and all the time.  Life has never been harder, and I struggle at times to be the mom I desire my girls to have.  These little blessings are my heaven-sent sanctifiers, and I am certainly learning and growing through the trials and joys of everyday life.  At times I am completely overwhelmed, but Byron reminds me God has put him in the perfect job for "such a time as this."  When an emergency arises, I can call out an SOS and potentially have him home in five minutes.

This is a blessed, beautiful, trying, and difficult job that often brings me to my knees, but I am reminded to "take heart" and strive to serve them joyfully in hopes they might have a beautiful reflection of childhood.

 

~~

“Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is place in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse in to the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into its soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny,--she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no others hands the sacred and holy trust given to her.”
― J.R. Miller

“Love is always ready to deny itself, to give, sacrifice, just in the measure of its sincerity and intensity. Perfect love is perfect self-forgetfulness. Hence where there is love in a home, unselfishness is the law. Each forgets self and lives for others.

But where there is selfishness it mars joy. One selfish soul will destroy the sweetness of life in any home. It is like an ugly bush in the midst of a garden of flowers. It was selfishness that destroyed the first home and blighted all the loveliness of Paradise; and it has been blighting lovely things in earth's home ever since. We need to guard against this spirit.”
― J.R. Miller